Iraq Casualties

¿Necesita aprender inglés?

...there is even a serious possibility that some cases of Alzheimer's may be mis-diagnosed cases of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease-and the discouraging and dramatic rise in Alzheimer's cases in recent years might be a symptom of the already widespread effects of Mad Cow in humans. Keep reading

During the 2004 Maryland General Assembly session, legislation will be introduced that would severely curtail the rights of undocumented workers and jeopardize those who assist them. Keep reading

Election 2004

IMMIGRATION REFORM. Reality or fiction? Keep reading

Teatro de la Luna. VII FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE TEATRO HISPANO "HACIA UN TEATRO POPULAR" Siga leyendo

Teatro GALA, La dama duende (The Phantom Lady) January 29 - March 7, 2004 Siga leyendo

Are you or someone you know afflicted by a stroke? See here ¿Ha tenido Ud. o alguien que Ud. conoce una embolia? Lea aquí

Invest in Spain Today Spain is the sixth largest manufacturer in the world and the third in Europe, ahead of the UK and Italy, and just behind Germany and France. Keep reading

Angel Gil-Ordóñez conducts the Brooklyn Philharmonic on Saturday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on "Celebrating Don Quixote" Keep reading

Carmen Pratt wins Latina Leadership Award Keep reading

Hispanic Republican leader says he doubts black lawmakers legally can broker a deal to secure ownership of two proposed slot-machine emporiums, but adds that Hispanics also might be interested in casino ownership. Keep reading

Panel rejects bills on illegal immigrants

Hispanic Affairs Advisory Council 1st Annual Fund Raiser March 13, 2004 BWI Sheraton International Hotel Keep reading

3rd. Week of Teatro de la Luna's Int'l Festival of Hispanic Theater Keep reading

The Third Annual Maryland Hispanic Business Legislative Reception celebrated in Annapolis. Keep reading

Cuban exiles demand clarification
A civil employee of the State Department Christopher Sibilla, in Madrid Spain, during a teaching conference on lessons of the Spanish transition from dictatorship to democracy for Latin America, made declarations to the agency EFE about the "secondary role" that the exile must have in future political change of the island. Keep reading

Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.),  Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee, today called the administration's budget request of just $678.4 million for the Small Business Administration (SBA) "a travesty for America's small businesses," and vowed to fight in Congress to restore the agency's funding. Keep reading

UNION CULTURAL DOMINICANA INVITA Siga leyendo

Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce gets a new board Keep reading

Hispanics begin a new Business Watch program
The Western Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has started a Business Watch program in Old Town Gaithersburg in order to neutralize an emerging problem of juvenile gangs, robberies, and public drinking. Keep reading

The Maryland Democratic Primary is Tuesday, March 2nd. If you will be unable to vote that day, you should request an absentee ballot from your county's Board of Elections. There are deadlines involved for voting by absentee ballot, so call today. Keep reading

La obesidad infantil y la comunidad hispana
La obesidad infantil es un problema complejo cuyas soluciones no son fáciles. Esta tendencia está aumentando a una velocidad alarmante: de acuerdo con la Asociación Estadounidense contra la Obesidad, 15.3 por ciento de los niños de todo el país se consideran obeso.Siga leyendo
Childhood Obesity and the Hispanic Community
Childhood obesity is a complex problem with no easy solutions. This trend is increasing at an alarming rate with 15.3 percent of children nationally considered obese according to the American Obesity Association. Keep reading Delegate Ramirez's letter

Letters - Cartas

Mr. Bustamante:
I enjoy keeping up with what's happening in Maryland. I thought you might be interested in linking to my article on grassroots advocacy printed in English and Spanish in The Latino Messenger (pdf file attached) and available online at www.cg2consulting.com,
http://www.cg2consulting.com/article_diez_consejos.html. Although it is
written for Virginia, the ten tips on how to be an effective advocate for
Latinos are equally applicable in Maryland. Also, as the Richmond lobbyist for the Virginia Coalition for Latino Organizations, I routinely write updates on legislation pending in Virginia. If you'd like to be on the distribution list, let me know.
Thanks. Claire
Claire Guthrie Gastañaga
Principal
501 East Franklin Street
Richmond, VA 23219
P: 804.521.4067
F: 804.521.4175
E: cgg@c... <mailto:cgg@c...>
W: www.cg2consulting.com <http://www.cg2consulting.com>
2003 SBA Virginia Women in Business Advocate of the Year
------------------------------------------
Mr. Bustamante:
The hearings on almost all of the anti-immigrant bills have been set for February 18 at 1:00. The bills that have been assigned to the Judiciary Committee, HB 4, HB 40, HB 41, HB 79, and HB 89, as well as the positive HB 579 (introduced by Delegate Shirley Nathan-Pullium and outlawing local police enforcement of immigration law) will be heard in the Joint Hearing Room. HB 7, outlawing the use of consular ids, will be heard in the Health & Government Operations room.
Preliminarily, we had decided to have a press conference on February 17 to denounce these bills. I now think it makes the most sense to hold that press conference on February 18 instead. I am working on getting a room for that. That means you should plan on being in Annapolis from at least 11:30 on.
Secondly, we are going to start working on putting together panels for the hearings. These panels are being coordinated by Kevin Moreno, Ruben Chandrasekar, Dario Muralles, and myself. We’ll be getting in touch with you quickly to make sure you get signed up. Briefly, we’ve already discussed having various panels highlighting faith-based opposition, labor-side concerns, business-side opposition, policing concerns, government concerns, and, of course, community concerns. These hearings tend to be wild and wooly, but we’ll try to keep it under control as much as possible. Also, we are trying to make sure that the committees are coordinating so that attending one won’t make you miss the other committee room.
Thirdly, the fact that these are being held in the Joint Hearing Room means we have to work on getting people to attend. The Joint Hearing Room holds over 200 people. The hearing will be carried live on Maryland Public Television. We want to make sure they see the folks that are directly impacted and interested in this bill holding forth.
I have attached the latest greatest description of the legislation. If you have not already done so, make sure that your organization has signed the attached endorsement form and get it in. Also, we have put together a ton of materials that you can review at www.latinosinmaryland.org and clicking on the Friends of New Marylanders link.
Kimberley Propeack, Esq.
Advocacy Director, CASA of Maryland, Inc.
734 E. University Blvd.,
Silver Spring, MD 20903
301-431-4185, ext. 216 tel.
301-431-4179 fax.
kpropeack@casamd.org www.casademaryland.org
--------------------------------------------
At a time when President Bush and leaders of the state Republican Party are making aggressive efforts to reach out to immigrant populations, two GOP delegates are steering a different course. Baltimore County's Richard K. Impallaria and Patrick L. McDonough are drawing criticism for a legislative package they've introduced seeking to crack down on illegal immigrants in Maryland...,
An article appeared in the Baltimore Sun this weekend concerning two local politicians that are seeking to push the Republican Party and the State into an immigration abyss. Both misguided souls appear to represent my chosen political party and home territory, Hydes in Baltimore County, so the lines have been drawn in the sand on the upcoming battle -- for me and you.
I promised you at the first Commission meeting that I would fight for the Community and use "la malicia indigena" to support "nuestro pueblo." I do not support those that pick on the weak, the underrepresented, and the most talented and ambitious community in the State. We will stand strong for those that don't have a strong voice, but a pure, strong, yet humble heart.
Over the coming weeks, we shall pick apart their rudimentary arguments; we shall strike them at their core - their voting constituencies; and, we shall win back the hearts and souls of Maryland citizens. The President is in our corner, and is currently guiding us on what it means to be a compassionate American -- by supporting and helping those Hispanic immigrants that are trying to help their families and their country of choice.
La revolucion ha principiado!!
Mauricio E. Barreiro
------------------------------------------
We need to be clear on our position with this issue, (see Immigration) we need to unite against this type of legislation. As a Latino/Hispanic American, I call on all our brothers and sisters from all walks of life to fight this type of hateful rhetorical legislation. These two newbee's, are looking to get press, so lets oblige them by letting them know that the path they have embarked on, is a very slippery, and perilous one of no political value to them. I like their selective memory the most, although I remember the sad death of the Baltimore County Sergeant, and let me say for the record that our hearts go out to his family, I also remember the sad death of a young Hispanic immigrant worker last August in Baltimore County. I remember reading about a young Latino/Hispanic man that was shot while responding to his friends, whom were being attacked by perpetrators, by the very same Baltimore County Police officers that were called for help. The Baltimore County Police officers automatically assumed they/the Hispanics were the perpetrators. Worse, by the time they had realized their mistake it was too late. Sadly, and correct me if I am wrong, I don't remember an apology or any type of statement coming from the Baltimore County Police Department, except that it was an unfortunate incident, and they had followed procedure. You see, I can go on and on with other atrocities that were committed against our Community in the name of the law, but maybe we need to ask ourselves, "Hasta Cuando", "when are we going to wake up"? Maybe it's time for a gut check? I love and served my country honorably as a US Navy Corpsman, I learned to prepare for war and am aware we are fighting a war on terror. Throughout the history of these United States, Latinos/Hispanics have willingly given their oath of loyalty, and have laid down their lives valiantly for America, in just about every War America has fought. From stopping the southern advance of the English General Cornwallace during the Revolution, (Hispanics, French, Indians and African Americans described as a group of Creoles) to the Civil War, Admiral Faraguts mother was of Cuban ancestry, 1st, and 2nd World War, (the 65th Infantry, from Puerto Rico, was sited by the US Army for their gallantry, and heroism during the 2nd World War), the Korean War, Vietnam, Lebanon, Mogadishu, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and currently Iraq, lest we forget that the first casualty of the current war in Iraq was a Latino/Hispanic immigrant young man, who was not yet an American Citizen. Del. McDonough, and Impallaria need to stop employing fear as their motive. I suggest that our respective community leaders do what all Americans have done in the past when confronted with this type of fear based politic legislation, and that is fight it in the halls of Justice in Annapolis, and Washington, DC, we have the numbers now to do this. At the end they must understand that neither we, or our respective communities are the enemy and to imply that we are, or misconstrue the truth is truly UN American. Con La Union Hay La Fuerza!
God Bless!
Bill Villanueva
------------------------------------------
Dear Javier,
The Western Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has started a Business Watch program in Old Town Gaithersburg in order to neutralize an emerging problem of juvenile gangs, robberies, and public drinking. The Business Watch organizational meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 10 at 7:00 PM in the City of Gaithersburg Town Hall. We thought that as a chamber we should take the initiative in dealing with this problem especially since the business community at large had not been able to get organized. Business Watch is a partnership between merchants and the local police department similar to Neighborhood Watch. In 1996 there were no Hispanic-owned businesses in Old Town Gaithersburg. Today, there are 43 out of total of 300 businesses all keenly interested about the economic future of Gaithersburg.
This is the first time in the Greater Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan area that a Hispanic Chamber has taken the initiative to deal with a problem affecting the entire business community. It is important that this effort be recognized and emulated.
Very best regards,
Jorge Ribas, President
Western Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
21105 Golf Estates Drive
Laytonsville, MD 20882-1942
Office: 301-258-1910
FAX: 301-258-1909
Mobile: 301-404-1946
Email: jribas@ribasconsulting.com
--------------------------------------
Javier,
Coral Cantigas es un coro de magnífica calidad que está tomando vuelo en
Montgomery County. Su directora artística es Diana Sáenz. Apúntalo en la lista de upcoming latino stars.
Fernando Cruz-Villalba
Hispanic Alliance of Montgomery County
--------------------------------------
Hi Javier,
I get your weekly emails and wanted to introduce myself. I am the executive director of the Live Baltimore Home Center, a non-profit that markets Baltimore City living. We have been in operation since 1997, you can read more at www.LiveBaltimore.com
We are working on developing a city living marketing campaign targeted to the Hispanic community in the coming year and I wanted to talk to you about a few things. We have already raised funding for this and are waiting to hear on one more proposal next month. We would like to conduct a couple of focus groups to get feedback on living and doing business in the city so that we can begin a strong dialogue as we develop this campaign. We will also be in search of a new staff person to head up this effort, with strong marketing abilities and that is fluent in Spanish. I was hoping that you could partner with us on some of these efforts and in helping to get the word out so that we have active participation. Please let me know what is the best way to contact you or you can call me on my cell phone at 443-829-9674. Look forward to talking with you soon. Thank you,
Tracy Gosson
Live Baltimore Home Center
410-637-3750 (f) 410-637-3751
www.LiveBaltimore.com
-----------------------------------------
Estimado Señor Bustamante:
Mi nombre es Federico Villagra y soy parte de un grupo de doctores e investigadores en University of Maryland School of Medicine. Llevamos a cabo estudios de investigación en rehabilitación para pacientes que han sufrido una hemorragia/isquemia cerebral (stroke). Estamos interesados en que la
población hispana y en particular pacientes hispánicos afectados por tales
condiciones médicas se puedan beneficiar de nuestro trabajo. Queremos
reclutar para nuestros estudios un mayor número de pacientes hispánicos. Le agradecería que me hiciera saber cual es la mejor forma de propagar esta
información a la población hispana de Maryland. Yo estaría encantado de hablar con usted. Mi teléfono o dirección electrónica figuran abajo. Le saludo atentamente,
Federico Villagra, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Phone: 410-706 5208
E-mail: fvillagra@som.umaryland.edu

Corresponsales

"THESE TYPE OF THINGS"
"THIS TYPES OF THING"
OR "THESE TYPE OF THINGS"?

by Emilio Bernal Labrada

If you're wondering which of these is correct the answer is... none of the above!

Don't worry, you have to be a very good judge of language to get that one right. The fact is that all three of the above phrases are ungrammatical or illogical. While the fourth, which I have left out of the title (cluttered enough, as it is), is the most popular "solution" to the puzzle: "these types of things."

Yes, an easy way out of a seemingly perplexing case of verbal gymnastics, I grant you. But, while technically correct, it is also an unnecessary pluralization of all elements, since the singular would be clearer and more precise. An even worse-sounding mistake, in my book, is the singularly (plurally?) offensive "those type of things."

Another noun abused and misused to achieve the same dastardly end is, of course, "kind," as in "these kind(s) of things." But we needn't be that unkind, since for our purposes "type" will do very nicely, thank you.

But, of all things, why would you want to pluralize "type" if the word is already, by definition, inclusive of many things of the same nature? Well, if you must know, it's because the unneeded pluralization is dragged in by the subject, whether it be "things," "items" or "widgets". Since the plural "things" normally requires a plural demonstrative adjective (i.e., "these," if you've forgotten your high school grammar) the speaker feels uneasy about using "thing" in the singular. Failing, of course, to take "type" into the equation. Further, having pluralized those two words ("these" and "things"), the speaker (writer?) seems to feel absolutely bound to do the same with "type."

But wait. Stop and think for a moment. If the subject is crime, for example, and you're talking about a kind, type or category, why would you need to pluralize by saying "these types of crimes"? Much better to use the singular throughout and say "this type of crime" --or, if you must put the plural in there somewhere, you might say: "this type of crimes."

Aha, you say, gotcha! Clearly ungrammatical! But wait, not so fast. At first glance, I'll readily admit, it sounds odd. But, believe it or not, it's correct! The explanation is simple, arrived at by turning the phrase around like this: "crimes of this type."

So you see, it's a perfectly logical way to express the concept if you feel a plural is necessary. However, few of us are stout-hearted enough to deal with the inevitable barrage of corrections from anyone within earshot of this strange-sounding construction (that's why it's unpopular, because it's unused and thus unusual). So maybe we should play it safe and stick with the more normal-sounding "crimes of this type."

Conclusion: if you've ever felt uneasy about "this(ese) type(s) of thing(s)" or "this(ese) kind(s) of mistake(s)", now you know why.

"PERSONS" IS BEGGING FOR RETIREMENT by Emilio Beltran Labrada

The Madness Continues: An Update on Mad Cow Disease and the Pushers Who Peddle It

by Larry DeWitt

Since we last considered the circus surrounding Mad Cow disease (see "It's Not the Cows Who Are Mad," January 2, 2004) there have been, shall we say, developments. We might be tempted to call some of it progress, but the record is too mixed for such a simple verdict.

You recall that in my January 2nd column I argued that is was a virtual certainty there are more infected cows already in the American food supply, and that there are only two rational ways to deal with this ongoing threat: either inspect 100% of the cattle going to slaughter, or ban entirely the practice of feeding animals parts to cattle to fatten them up. Keep reading

Vodka in the Sun VII: St. Petersburg in Scaffolding

By Eric D. Goodman

St. Petersburg Preparing for the Big 3-0-0

St. Petersburg, Russia, is easily one of the most spectacular cities in the world. I’ve held to this since my first visit to the former capitol in 1994. A debt is owed to Tsar Peter the Great for conceiving this paradise over the swamplands. Perhaps now more than ever before, as the city celebrates its 300th anniversary.Keep reading

por Montenegro

Cada vez que pienso que ya conozco la mentalidad yanqui algo pasa que me hace pensar que no. Como es posible que un gran partido de football americano, como fue en el Superbowl, entre los Patriotas de Nueva Inglaterra y las Panteras de Carolina del Norte sea eclipsado por el pecho derecho de Janett Jackson. Las dos décimas de segundo en las que se expuso esa glándula mamaria dieron ya más de una semana de discusión y por el momento no veo que se termine el asunto...... Increíble. Siga leyendo

Por: Hainess Egas

“LA DAMA DUENDE”

De: Pedro Calderón de la Barca

!GALA TIENE DUENDE! Duende, se dice en España cuando un espectáculo deslumbra por su alma y fuerza escénica. Nuevamente el “Gala Hispanic Theater” nos deleita con una magistral puesta en escena; “La Dama Duende” de Pedro Calderón de la Barca, una joya cómica del Siglo de Oro español. En esta historia de amor e intriga, Doña Angela, la protagonista, busca inmiscuirse en la vida del capitán don Manuel quien está de visita en la casa que comparten ella y sus celosos hermanos. Siga leyendo

Mi Aventura con Cristóbal Colón

Miré al reloj de a bordo y luego al altímetro; son las 11:40 de la mañana y el avión está volando a 11,000 pies de altura. Presto atención al sistema de navegación que me dice que Bimini, la primera isla que se encuentra entre La Florida y las Bahamas deberá de pasar bajo las alas del avión en aproximadamente ocho minutos.

Estoy empezando mis esperadas vacaciones. Yo no espero encontrar barcos llenos de turistas y tiendas para comprar recuerdos. Estoy dirigiéndome a la parte de las islas Bahamas que solamente los que tienen acceso a aviones o yates pueden visitar.